Toy

ABSTRACT

A TOY HAS A CHAMBER, A MOUTH PIECE THROUGH WHICH AIR CAN BE SUPPLIED TO SAID CHAMBER, A BALLOON WHICH RECEIVES AIR FROM SAID CHAMBER, AND THEREAFTER RETURNS AIR TO SAID CHAMBER, A NOZZLE WHICH EXTENDS UPWARDLY FROM SAID CHAMBER TO DIRECT A JET OF AIR UPWARDLY, AND A LIGHT-WEIGHT BALL WHICH CAN BE SUSPENDED IN MID AIR BY SAID JET OF AIR. D R A W I N G

l 3,559,330 TOY A i Marvin L. Matlock, 7501 Mars Drive,

Godfrey, lll. 62035 e Filed Apr. 11, 1969, Ser. No. '815,318

Int. Cl. A63h 29/16 U.S. Cl. 46-44 8 Claims Ausrnncr F THE DISCLOSURE I' 4A toy has a chamber, a mouth piecethrough which This inventionrelates to improvements in toys. More particularly, this invention relates to improvements in toys which are operated by blowing air into them.

-It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an improved toy which is operated by blowing air into it. t

A toy that is operatedby blowing air into it is useful in helping children develop their lung capacities; and such a toy also is useful in helping adults exercise their lungs. However, unless a toy offers a challenge to the user thereof, that user will quickly tire of that toy, and thus will not obtain thecbenets which could be obtained by continued use of that toy. As a result, it would be desirable'to provide a toy which was operated by blowing air into it and which would oer a challenge to the userV thereof. The present invention provides such a toy; and it does so by providing a toy which can be operated to suspend a light-weight ball in mid air, and which can be operated to cause that light-weight ball to bounce up and down while suspended in mid air. iIt is, therefore, an object of the present invention toprovide a toy which is operated by blowing air into it, which can be operated to suspenda lightweight ball in mid` air, and which can fbe operated to cause that ball to bounce up and down while suspended in mid air.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention should become apparent from an examination of thev drawing Vand accompanying description.

In the drawing and accompanying description a preferred embodimentof the present invention is shown and described but itfis torbe` understood that the drawing and accompanying description are for the purpose of illustrationv only and do not limit the invention and that the invention will be defined by the appended claims. In the drawing, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one preferred embodiment of the present invention, c

FIG. 2 is a broken section, on a larger scale, through the toy shown in FIG. 1, and it is taken along the plane indicated `by the line 2 2 in FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is a section through the toy shown'in FIG.A 1, and it is taken along the plane indicatedrby the line 3``3 in FIG. 2. Y Referring to the drawing in detail, the, numeral 10 denotes a tube which has a smoothly-rounded ange 12. at the right-hand end thereof; and that smoothly-rounded flange will serve as a mouthpiece. The numeral 14 Vdenotes a short length of tubing which is telescoped over the left-hand end of the tube and that short length of tubing will be xedly secured to the left-hand end of the tube 10 by a press lit, cement, or the like. The numeral 16 denotes a length of tubing which has the ,United States Patent() right-hand end thereof telescoped overthe left-hand end Patented Feb. 2, 1971 of the short length of tubing 14; and the length of tubing 16 will be fixedly secured to the short length of tubing 14 by a press lit, cement, or the like. The left-hand end of the length of tubing 16 has a smoothly-rounded flange 18 thereon. The length of tubing 16 essentially acts as an air receiving chamber 17.

The numeral 20 denotes a nozzle which is ixedly disposed within an opening 21 in the length of tubing 16 by a press fit, cement, or the like; and that nozzle communicates with the chamber 17 constituted by that length of tubing. The nozzle 20 is intermediate the left-hand end-of the short length of tubing 14 and the smoothlyrounded flange 18 on the left-hand end of the length of tubing 16. The numeral 2A- denotes a readily inilatable balloon which has the neck thereof distended to telescope over the smoothly-rounded flange 18 on the left-hand end of the length of tubing 16; and the neck of that balloon will coact with that smoothly-rounded ilange to provide an air-tight seal between that baloon and that length of tubing. The numeral 26 denotes a light-weight ball; and, in one preferred embodiment of the present invention, that ba-ll is made of styrofoam or the like.

The numeral 22 denotes an air-impervious ball which is disposed within the chamber 17 constituted by the length of tubing 16; and that ball has a diameter which is larger than the inner diameter of the short length of tubing 14 but which is smaller than the inner diameter of the length of tubing 16. That ball will be able to move freely within the chamber 17 constituted by the length off tubing 16; but it will be held adjacent the lefthand end of the short length of tubing, 14 by the lower end of the nozzle 20-that lower end acting as a stop for that ball. The ball 22 can be moved away from the left-hand end of the short length of tubing 14 to permit air to pass through the tube 10 and into the chamber 17; but the ball can coact with the left-hand end of the short length of tubing 14 to keep air from passing outwardly from the chamber 17 Via the tube 10 to the atmosphere. As a result, the ball 22. can coact with the left-hand end of the short length of tubing 14 to constitute a check valve.

In using the toy provided by the present invention, the user will move the mouth piece 12 into engagement with his or her lips and then blow into the tube 10. The` resulting pressure on the ball 22 will force that ball away from the left-hand end of the short length of tubing 14, thereby permitting air to enter the chamber 17. Some of that air will pass through the generally-annular space between the ball 22 and the inner surface of the length of tubing 16 and tend to inflate the balloon 24, while the rest of that air will tend to enter, and to pass upwardly through and then discharge from, the nozzle 20 to form an upwardly-directed jet of air. That jet of air will be coaxial with the nozzle 20; and that jet of air is indicated by dashed lines in FIG. 1.

If the user of the toy supplies a relatively small volume of air to the chamber 17 at a steady rate, the balloon 24 will remain essentially un-inated; and essentially all of the air supplied to that chamber will pass upwardly through the nozzle 20 to form the upwardly-directed jet of air. If the light-weight ball 26 is momentarily held in that jet of air and then released, that jet of air will tend to hold that ball suspended in mid air. However, as soon as the user of the toy stops blowing into the tube 10 as when he or she takes a breath-the jet of air will quickly dissipate, and the light-weight ball 26 will fall. Consequently, in using the toy, most users will initially supply a large volume of air to the tube 10 at a rapid rate to cause the balloon 24 to become inflated. A jet of air will be developed above the nozzle 20, as the balloon 24 is being inflated; and that jet of air will be able to suspend the light-weight ball 26 in mid air- If the user of ice the toy has, f Wishes t0 use ,Cali/a Srr1a1 1.1t1ng capacitn he'or'sheco'uld placera finger in engagement with the upper end of the nozzle to close that nozzle while he or she initially blew into the ltube 10. In that event, all of the air introduced into that tube would tend to inflate the balloon 24; and hence that balloon could be inflated with a minimum amount of blowing by the user thereof.

When the user of the toy stops blowing into the tube 10, as he or she will do when he or she takes a further breath, the restorative forces within the balloon 24 ,will force air to pass outwardly from that balloon and enter the chamber 17. That air will force the ball 2 2 intoengagement with the left-hand end of the short length of y tubing 14, and thus will enablethat ball and lthat endfto block any and all ow of air outwardly fromthe chamber 17 through the tube 10. This means that the air fromthe balloon 24 will pass upwardly through the nozzle 20, and

will tend to maintain the upwardly-.directed jet of-air,

above that nozzle which is suspending the light-weight ball 26 in mid air. If the user intlates the/balloon 24 adequately, the air from that balloon will maintain the upwardly-directed jet of air above the nozzle 20 for a period of time which is long enough to enable the user to take another breath, and to enable the user to direct further air into the tube 10, before the balloon collapses. As the user introduces further air into the tube 10, the ball 22 will move to the dotted line position in FIG. 2, and some of that further air will pass upwardly through the nozzle 20 to maintain the upwardly-directed jet of air, and the rest of that further air will pass into the balloon 24 to re-inate it. After a little practice, the average user will develop sucient skill to be able to maintain an essentially steady jet of upwardly-directed air above the nozzle 20, and thus will be able to hold the ball 26 suspended in mid air for appreciable periods of time. A certain amount of skill is needed to maintain a steady upwardly-directed jet of air above the nozzle 20, and a certain amount of skill is needed to hold the toy steady enough to keep the upwardly-directed jet of air in supporting position beneath the ball 26. While those amounts of skill are within the capabilities of most persons, the need of using those amounts of skill makes the use of the toy a challengeand thus tends to command and maintain the interest of the user.

During normal usage of the toy, the upwardly-directed jet of air above the nozzle 20 will be essentially steady and will maintain the ball 26 in or close to the solid line position shown by FIG. 1. This result is due, at least in part, to the fact that the geometric axis of the nozzle 20 is at right angles to the direction in which air ows through the chamber 17 from the short length of tubing 14 into the balloon 24 and from that balloon toward the lower end of that nozzle-the right angular disposition of that nozzle making the rate of flow of the air in the upwardly-directed jet of air be primarily dependent upon the pressure, and not the direction of movement, of the air within that chamber. However, a skillful user of that toy will be able to cause the intensity of the upwardlydirected jet of air to drop abruptly for a moment or two and then rise abruptly tol a higher-than-normal value for a further moment or two-thereby causing the ball 26 to drop down to the lower dotted-line position in FIG. 1 for a moment or two and then to rise up to the upper dotted-line position in FIG. 1 for a further moment or two before it returns to the solid-line position in FIG. 1. Specically, a skillful user can inflate the balloon 24 and use the resulting upwardly-directed jet of air to suspend the ball 26 in the solid-line position in FIG. 1 and then that user can, for a momentor two, sharply increase the rate at which he or she introduces air into the tube 10. As the rate at which the air is introduced into the tube 10 is inl creased sharply, the ball 26 will move downwardlyfrom the solid-line position to the lower dotted-line position in FIG. 1; and that ball will remain suspended in that position for a moment or two. Thereafter, that ball will the upper dotted-line position in FIG. 1; and that ball will remain suspended in that upper position for a further moment or two, and then will move downwardly to the solidline position in FIG. 1. The momentary reduction in the intensity of the 4upwardly-directed jetrroflair above the nozzle 20, `which permits the ball-26 to'drop down-'to the lower dotted-line position in FIG'. l, lmay be due to an ejector-type phenomenon1 which developsduring the momentary faster-thanlusualttlow of air' through the chamber 17 past the lower end of the nozzle Ztlthat ejector-type lphenomenon diminishing but not halting thenpward ow ofthe air which forms the upwardly-directed jet of air, so that upwardly-directed jet of air isg able to support the ball 26 inrthat, lower `dotted-line `positiong,lhe movement of the ball 26 upwardly through the's'olid-line position to the upper dotted-line` position in FIG. y1 and the momentary ,suspensionof that ball inthat upper dotted-line position, may be due to an vincrease in the'velocityof the air in the upwardly-directedfjet of fair, which results from the contraction of the balloon 24 at the end of the sharp increase in the rate at which the user introduces air into the tube 10. In any event, it has been determined that the mounting of the nozzle 20I so' its lower'end is in communication with the chamber 17, and so its axis is transverse of the direction of the faster-than-usual flow. of air through that chamber, makes it possible for the user of the toy to cause the ball 26 to move downwardly from the solid-line position to the lower dotted-line position in FIG. 1. Further, it has been determined that the ball 26 will thereafter move upwardly through the solid-line position to the upper dotted-line position in FIG. l at the end of the sharp increase in the rate at which the user introduces air into the tube 10i. i

Further sharp increases in the rate of introduction of air into the tube 10 willv cause the ball 26 to recurrently drop down to the lower dotted-line position in FIG. 1, to move back upwardly through the solid-line position to the upper dotted-line position in FIG. 1,- and then to return to that solid-line position. By properly timing the sharp increases in the rate of introduction of air into the tube ,10, the user can cause the ball 26y to recurrently bounce up and down while it is suspended in mid air. While the amount of skill, required to cause the ball 26 to recurrently bounce up and down while suspended in mid-air, is within the capabilities of many persons, the need of that skill makes the use of the Atoy a challengeand thus tends to encourage more frequent and longer uses of that toy. g v l The toy maybe assembled and thensold in the form shown inthe drawing. However, if desired, that toy could be marketed so the tube 10, the short length of tubing 14, the length of tubing16, the nozzle 20, the ball 22, and the balloon 24 were separate parts, and then the Purchaser could assemble those parts to make the toy. The tube 10 would be supplied without the mouth-piece 12; and the length of tubing 16 would be supplied without the flange 18; but the purchaser could easily form that mouth piece and that ange by heating the right-hand'end Ofthe tube 10 and the vleft-hand end of the length of tubing'16, respectively,l over a suitable source vof heat.

Whereasvthe drawing and'ac'c'ompa'riying description have shown an'd described a preferred embodiment of the present invention 'it' should be apparent to those skilled in the a'rt that 'various changes may be made inV thef form of'the invention withoutatfecting' thev scope thereof.

WhatIclaimis:` 1. Atoywhich comprises:

ya chamber,- j

a mouth piece that receives the 'mouth of the 'user of said vtoy and that is connected to said chamber to enable said us'e'rrt'o supply airto said chamber',

a nozzlev extending from said- 'chamber vto lcause yairto issue from said chamber in the form of an upwardlydirected jet of air,

a balloon connected to said chamber to receive air from said chamber and thereafter to return said air to said chamber,

a valve intermediate `said mouth piece and said nozzle and intermediate said mouth piece and said balloon that permits air to pass from said mouth piece to said nozzle and to said balloon,

said valve keeping the air in said balloon from reaching said mouth piece, and

a light-weight ball that can be suspended in air above said nozzle by said upwardly-directed jet of air from said nozzle, l

said mouth piece and said balloon recurrently supplying air to said chamber, and said chamber supplying air to said nozzle, to enable said upwardly-directed jet of air to hold said ball in mid air for appreciable periods of time.

2. A toy as claimed in claim 1 wherein said mouth piece is connected to one end of said chamber, wherein said balloon is connected to the other end of said chamber, and wherein said nozzle is connected to said chamber intermediate said ends of said chamber.

3. A toy as claimed 1 wherein a ball is disposed within said chamber to act as a check valve, and wherein said nozzle projects into said chamber and acts as a stop for said ball.

4. A toy as claimed in claim 1 wherein said nozzle has an axis that is transverse of the direction through which air passes through said chamber as it moves from said mouth piece into said balloon.

5. A- toy as claimed in claim 1 wherein said nozzle projects into said chamber, and wherein said nozzle has an axis that is transverse of the direction through which air passes through said chamber as it moves from said mouth piece into said balloon.

6. A toy as claimed in claim 1 wherein said mouth piece is connected to one end of said chamber, wherein said balloon is connected to the other end of Said chamber, wherein said nozzle is connected to said chamber intermediate said ends of said chamber, and wherein said nozzle has an axis that is transverse of the direction through which air passes through said chamber as it moves from said mouth piece into said balloon.

7. A toy as claimed in claim 1 wherein said mouth piece is connected to one end of said chamber, wherein said balloon is connected to the other end of said chamber, wherein said nozzle is connected to said chamber intermediate said ends of said chamber, wherein a ball is disposed within said chamber to act as a check valve, and wherein said nozzle projects into said chamber and acts as a stop for said ball.

8. A toy as claimed in claim 1 wherein said mouth piece is connected to one end of said chamber, wherein said balloon is connected to the other end of said chamber, wherein said nozzle is connected to said chamber intermediate said ends of said chamber, wherein said nozzle projects into said chamber and into the path of air moving through said chamber from said mouth piece to said balloon, and wherein said nozzle has an axis that is transverse of the direction through which air passes through said chamber as it moves from said mouth piece into said balloon.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,964,322 12/1960 Mann, Jr. 46-44 3,087,278 4/1963 Waggle, Ir. 46-44 LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner A. J. HEINZ, Assistant Examiner 

